reality shift (ree al' i tee shift), n. 1. the manifestation of objects appearing, disappearing, transforming and transporting. 2. changes in the way we experience time. 3. any sudden, abrupt alteration of physical reality with no apparent physical cause. 4. the source of synchronicity.

Reality shift is a relatively new term to describe an ancient phenomenon. Shifts in reality have long been relied upon by those who practice magic, work as shamanic or energy healers, or believe in the transformative powers of prayer, and they are now becoming known to the general public as a very real phenomenon that affects us all.

There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. - Albert Einstein

Reality shifts are happening around us all the time, even though we usually don't notice them occurring. By intending to witness reality shifts and paying more attention to your physical surroundings than usual, you will increase your chances of seeing reality shifts occur right in front of you.

When I first began experiencing numerous reality shifts in 1994, I thought that my mind was playing tricks on me, and that if I simply paid a bit more attention to things around me, then I'd stop thinking that things were appearing, disappearing, transforming and transporting around me.

I was amazed to discover that the opposite was true: the more closely I paid attention to my environment, the more likely I was to see that things were very often not at all the way I know they had been. For example, a half-eaten loaf of bread became a whole loaf again as it sat on my kitchen counter and I slept one night. I have searched the entire house for my daughter's favorite shoes, only to give up, and a few days later find her shoes in a place she would never normally put them - on top of her bed!

I've seen truly spectacular reality shifts when I was feeling the most doubt about them existing. I saw a very old-looking sign appear in the middle of my daily walking path the day after I'd started writing my first article about reality shifts, and was feeling doubt that this phenomenon could be real. The sign looked to be months and possibly years old, and the connected garbage can showed signs of the weed-whacking that had happened there just the day before. I had seen the gardeners working there in the park, and I had also seen they were working in a clear field that had no sign and garbage can.

Have you witnessed reality shifts in your life, perhaps not knowing how to store the memory or how to discuss it with other people? If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you may have witnessed reality shifts:

* Do you end up with single socks when you know you put pairs of socks into your load of laundry?

* Have you found your keys or wallet some place other than where you know you put them just a few minutes earlier?

* Have you thought of someone or something and moments later been startled when they appeared unexpectedly?

* Have you noticed time behave in other than a regular, linear fashion?

* Do traffic lights turn green and traffic jams clear up just when you most need them to?

There are a variety of ways that people observe and describe reality shifts, and while the vanishing/reappearing item type of reality shift is perhaps the most commonly discussed, some other commonly reported types of reality shifts include: people being noticed to be alive again who had been dead; injuries and illnesses vanishing (such as broken bones, cuts, blisters, tumors); loops in time (in which the exact same sequence of events repeats); time overlapping (in which a person interacts with someone from the past or future); great distances being covered in very short amounts of time; traffic lights and weather changing instantaneously in tandem with one's thoughts; spoon bending with one's thoughts; broken things being whole and fully functional without being repaired; empty containers (including gas tanks) being full without being refilled; money appearing in a wallet; food appearing on the counter, shelves and the refrigerator (sometimes audibly); lights being flipped on or off without switches being touched; changes in something from the past (such as the text in an old book); and objects teleporting from one location to another.

I currently know of no way to prove reality shifts, since physical evidence and witnesses so often change right along with whatever else has changed, resulting in my experiencing a reality in which people tell me it's always been like this, when I inquire about why a new structure has arisen overnight but looks like it's been there for months or years.

Regarding the matter of an item which has disappeared, sometimes the reappearance occurs at a very different time and place, making its reappearance dramatic and noteworthy. My daughter's tooth was lost one day at school after it had fallen out, and I was amazed when it reappeared a few inches above my hand many hours later that evening as I was writing a note to myself about how my daughter had lost her tooth at school that day.

Such obvious reality shifts clearly indicate to me that there has been a shift in reality, and that something which had gone missing in one place has now been teleported to another time and place, a place where it was desired.

You may be interested in perusing the results from the first survey on reality shifts that was conducted in 2000, which describe some of the most commonly reported types of reality shifts. Those survey results are posted online at realityshifters.com

Cynthia Sue Larson helps people to create their best lives by transforming from accidental manifestors into conscious reality shifters. Larson's popular ezine, RealityShifters News, is eagerly awaited each month by more than 4,000 subscribers worldwide. She provides Spiritual Life Coaching sessions by phone, and has been widely published in spiritual publications. Cynthia holds a B.A. in physics from U.C. Berkeley and an M.B.A. from San Francisco State University. For more information on reality shifting and Cynthia's books and services, visit realityshifters.com.